Combined blow gun and darts

ABSTRACT

A combined blow gun and darts wherein the blow gun includes a substantially elongated tubular member, a mouthpiece mounted on the end of the tubular member, a plurality of magnets secured to the tubular member in proximity of the mouthpiece and a plurality of darts held in position on the gun by the magnets, and wherein each of the darts consists of a cylindrical body section whose diameter is substantially slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the tubular member for free sliding movement of the dart through the tubular member, a pointed metallic rod mounted at the axis of the cylindrical body section and extending forwardly thereof, and the forward peripheral edge portion of the cylindrical body section being slotted to stabilize the dart while in flight.

United States Patent 1191 Gaylord 1541 COMBINED BLOWGUN AND DARTS PaulE. Gaylord, 2504 N. W. 22nd Court, Miami, Fla. 33142 [22]Fil'ed: June19, 1972 21 Appl.No.: 264,245

[76] Inventor:

[52] US. Cl. ..124/12, 124/41, 124/45, 1 273/1065 R [51] Int. Cl. ..F4lb1/00, F4lb 1/02 [58] Field of Search ..124/12, 30 R, 41,

' [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS [4 1 May 29, 19733,273,553 9/1966 Doyle ..273/l06.5 R X Primary Examiner-Richard C.Pinkham Assistant Examiner-R. T. Stouffer Attorney-Salvatore G. Militan[5 7] ABSTRACT A combined blow gun and darts wherein the blow gunincludes a substantially elongated tubular member, a mouthpiece mountedon the end of the tubular member, a plurality of magnets secured to thetubular member in proximity of the mouthpiece and a plurality of dartsheld in position on the gun by the magnets, and wherein each of thedarts consists of a cylindrical body section whose diameter issubstantially slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the tubularmember for free sliding movement of the dart through the tubular member,a pointed metallic rodmounted at the axis of the cylindrical bodysection and extending forwardly thereof, and the forward peripheral edgeportion of the cylindrical body section being slotted to stabilize thedart while in flight.

4 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures 1 COMBINED BLOW GUN AND DARTS BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates directlyto blow guns.

2. Description of the Prior Art There has been little advancement of theart to blow guns for many centuries since its advent before thediscovery of gun powder. The blow guns used by natives consist of ahollow reed with a dart that was stabilized in flight by feathersattached to the body portion of the dart. In recent years, improvementsmade to the ancient blow gun consisted of replacing the hollow reed witha tubular member and the feathers on the dart by a solid body member.However, the dart gun still remained inaccurate in its shooting abilityand inefficient in converting lung power to propulsion of the dart. Thepresent dart guns are very inefficient as there is a considerable lossof propulsion power, which at its best is limited, due to the use offeathers or ill fitting darts. In addition, the darts have a tendency toeither tumble or stray from their line of flight because of a lack of aneffective means of stabilizing the dart in its flight.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention contemplates among itsobpermits the blowing of the dart out of the blow gun at a high velocityand compelling the dart to maintain a substantially straight or truepath toward its target.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a combined blowgun and darts with magnets mounted on the blow gun for maintaining dartsin position on the gun accessible for use by gun users or for storingpurposes.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a dart with acylindrical body portion made of wood, plastic and the like withserrations or grooves formed about its periphery at the forward edgeportion thereof to provide a stabilization effect to the dart while inflight.

With these and other objects in view, the invention will be bestunderstood from a consideration of the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part of thisspecification, with the understanding, however, that the invention isnot confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawingbut may be changed or modified so long as such changes or modificationsmark no material departure from the salient features of the invention asexpressed in the'appended claims.

BRIEF-DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of mycombined blow gun and darts partially broken away at the mouthpieceshowing darts in position thereon with the dotted line showing the dartin the mouthpiece when ready for being blown from the gun.

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the flight of the dart as it movesthrough the blow gun.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are cross sectional views taken along the lines 3-3 and 44respectively of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are cross sectional views taken along the lines 5-5,6-6 and 77 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of my blow gun with the mouthpiecepartially. cut away.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a dart.

Referring to the drawing wherein like numerals are used to designatesimilar parts throughout the several views, the numral 10 refers to ablow or dart gun constructed in accordance with my invention and thenumetal 11 referring to my improved darts. The blow gun 10 consists ofan elongated tubular member 12, preferably made of aluminum and having aconstant and even bore 13 along its full length. At one end there ismounted a mouthpiece 14 consisting of a small section of a tubularmember fitted over the end portion of the tubular member 12 and havingan outwardly flared end portion 15 for accommodating a persons lips asthe user places his mouth there against for blowing the dart 11 at atarget.

Mounted on the outer surface of the tubular member is a plurality ofmagnets 20 glued or otherwise secured thereto. One of the magnets 211 isplaced in the vicinity of the mouthpiece at a distance about equal tothe length of a dart. The function of the magnets 20 is to secure inposition on and in the tubular member 12 a plurality of darts 11accessible to the user of the blow gun 10. The magnets also serve tostore the darts 11 so that the latter cannot become separated from thegun 10 nor become lost.

The dart 11 is provided with a body portion 21 of cylindrical shape andmade of wood, plastic and the like. The diameter of the body portion 21is such that it fits snugly yet loosely without binding in the tubularmember 12. The forward edge portion 23 of body portion 21 is providedwith a plurality of slots or grooves 22 that extend longitudinallyalongthe outer surface from the forward edge of the body portion 21 fora distance of about one-third of the total length of the body portion21. These grooves 21 compel the darts 11 to revolve within the tubularmember 12 as they are being blown therethrough to provide stability tothe flight of the dart while in free flight toward the target. Extendingfrom the forward end portion 23 of the body portion 21 at its axis is arod 24, pointed at its free end 25 for penetrating target. traget. Therod is preferably made of steel that is attracted by the magnets 20 formaintaining the darts 11 in position on the blow it) gun as shown byFIG. 1.

In the normal use of my blow gun 10, the darts 1 l are placed on and inthe blow gun adjacent to the magnets 20 with the steel rods 24 of thedarts adjacent the magnets 20 whose attraction maintain the darts 11 inposition thereon. The dart 11 which is in the barrel 13 of the blow gunIt) as shown by FIG. 1 with that dart 11 inserted only partially withinthe mouthpiece 14 to permit the dart 11 to tilt and the steel rod 241 toswing toward the magnet 20 due to the magnetic attraction of the magnet20 whereby the dart 11 is held in position at the mouthpiece 14 of thedart gun It). When it is desired to fire the dart 11, the user pushesthe dart 11 inwardly, that is at the mouthpiece 14, to cause the dart 11 to center itselfin the tubular member 12 and assume the position shownby the dotted lines in FIG. 1. Now by placing his lips at the flared end15 of the mouthpiece 14 and blowing therethrough, the dart 11 will bepropelled through the tubular member 12 and rotates as it emerges fromthe blow gun to fly at a high rate of end, a plurality of magnetssecured to the outer surface of said tubular member, one of said magnetsbeing in proximity of said mouthpiece, a plurality of darts, each darthaving a cylindrical body member and a pointed steel rod extendingforwardly of said body member at its axis, said dart having slottedportions extending longitudinally from its forward edge portion on thesurface of said cylindrical body member and a steel rod extendingforwardly of said body member along its axis.

2. The structure as recited by claim 1 wherein said magnet positioned inproximity of said mouthpiece is of sufficient strength to magneticallyattract a dart placed partially in the tubular member whereby said dartis permitted to tilt with said steel rod extending in a direction ofsaid last named magnet to hold said dart in position in said dart gun.

3. The structure as recited in claim 2 wherein said slotted portionsterminate in spaced relation to the rearward edge portion of said bodymember.

4. The structure as recited by claim 3 wherein said mouthpiece isprovided with a flared free end portion for receiving the lips of auser.

a: t a:

1. A combined blow gun and darts comprising an elongated tubular memberhaving a mouthpiece at one end, a plurality of magnets secured to theouter surface of said tubular member, one of said magnets being inproximity of said mouthpiece, a plurality of darts, each dart having acylindrical body member and a pointed steel rod extending forwardly ofsaid body member at its axis, said dart having slotted portionsextending longitudinally from its forward edge portion on the surface ofsaid cylindrical body member and a steel rod extending forwardly of saidbody member along its axis.
 2. The structure as recited by claim 1wherein said magnet positioned in proximity of said mouthpiece is ofsufficient strength to magnetically attract a dart placed partially inthe tubular member whereby said dart is permitted to tilt with saidsteel rod extending in a direction of said last named magnet to holdsaid dart in position in said dart gun.
 3. The structure as recited inclaim 2 wherein said slotted portions terminate in spaced relation tothe rearward edge portion of said body member.
 4. The structure asrecited by claim 3 wherein said mouthpiece is provided with a flaredfree end portion for receiving the lips of a user.